Thursday, April 04, 2013

Celebrating Poetry Month: With Sijo and Science

The sweet girl and I enjoyed reading Linda Sue Park’s Tap
Dancing on the Roof this week. It’s a collection of sijo, a Korean form of
poetry that follows a certain syllabic (or stress) pattern in English. The
easiest forms of it are either a three line poem with each line running 14-16
syllables, or a 6 line poem with each line running 7-8 syllables, though other
variations are possible.

Topics can vary, with the introduction of a given topic in
line one, further description in line two, and a surprising twist in line
three.

Every since reading the book, I can’t seem to stop thinking
in sijo form. It lends itself to fun musings.

Given our school science experiment today – we dissected an
owl pellet – I couldn’t resist trying my hand at a sijo musing on that very
subject…

The soft brown fluff
of owl pellet disguises a digested feast:

each tiny bone, claw,
beak, a new piece in this predator puzzle.

I’m sure the prey was
puzzled too when it heard the soft whoosh of wings.

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About Me

C.S. Lewis once wrote: "I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles. Also, of endless books." Although my list of influences would be slightly different, it would most likely end on the same note. I have been a bookworm all my life.